Home Run House Vision

  Features & Vision 

HOUSE FEATURES

The house is designed to last 500 years with minimal

maintenance, Zero energy from outside sources, be flexible

in room sizes and configuration with movable walls, can grow

many of the edibles in the internal garden and has many

movable exterior walls and roof elements.

WINDOWS AND DOORS 

All windows will be multi-pane with selected locations having up to 5 airspaces. Four locations will have large clustered glazing set in a movable framework. The entire living room wall will roll away; the bedroom wall will hinge up and as will the South wall of the kitchen. And a large section of the ceiling above the garden will roll away. These moving pieces will be manually controlled by the residents and have tight fitting gaskets to protect air leaks and infiltration in the closed position. Windows will have variations of insulating elements. Some of the swoopie windows will feature an insulated foam panel that can hinge down from the outside to cover the entire window when desired. Small-motorized windows used for ventilation will operate with similar technology as in automotive use. All exterior doors will be similar to walk-in cooler doors that are highly insulated and have refrigerator style gaskets to seal in the closed position.

INSULATION: r-30 walls and r-50 ceilings will be located on the interior of the exterior concrete. Some will be cast in place others will be applied after the structure is installed.

HOME HEALTH MODULE

A place-holder for the medicine cabinet of the future will include home files, monitoring devices, skype direct to healthcare providers. This element will undergo substantial remodeling and redesign over time and will have easy access to internet and power.

MECHANICAL RACEWAYS

Built into the floors and in some cases the ceiling, raceways for various voltage lines (110,220,and 12 volt) fiber optics and sensors will be placed for easy access for expansion or connectivity. Additional raceways will be for hot and cold water, drainage, and heating. All will have easily accessed covers and be large enough for future changes expansion and repair. Walls will not have raceways but will be prewired to be plugged into floor or ceiling outlets to make for easy relocation and future configurations.

NET ZERO There will be no furnace in the house as 100% of the heating and cooling load (though this will be minimal) will be from a geothermal network under the footprint of the house. The bearingless heat pump is extremely efficient and will supply hot water to a radiant system throughout

the house.

ELECTRICITY 100% of the electrical requirements will be supplied with 600 sq. ft. of PV collectors integrated into the roof system of the house. The supplied electricity will be integrated into the local electric grid that is connected directly to the house. All lighting will be LED off the shelf and custom fixtures.

PASSIVE SOLAR The house has extensive south facing glass oriented for winter sun and shaded from summer sun. The extensive use of concrete for structure will act as a large thermal battery to store heat and radiate warmth continuously.

WOOD STOVE There will be a wood stove/fireplace for hot warmth after outdoor skating and skiing and for visual delight. The firewood is from a sustainable supply on the immediate property. IN the event of -20degree nights the wood stove will supply additional heat.

INTERIOR GARDEN Similar to that at RMI, the interior garden with a 5 ft. deep soil base can be used for edibles, flowers and air quality freshening. Rainwater from the roof is stored inside for gravity drip irrigation. A substantial sliding roof section of the greenhouse style roof can be opened on demand. The entire greenhouse roof section will have transparent movable insulation at the crosstie section

STRUCTURE The exterior of the house will be concrete with a minimum of 4ooo lb strength for

waterproofing and durability over centuries with no maintenance. The concrete will be cast in place as tilt-up, cast in custom made plastic forms or precast on site for specialty uses such as stairs and countertops. A vacuum-molding machine will mold specialty shapes for complex and efficient structures. The house is sited and oriented to provide passive solar and daylighting, using durable and sustainable building materials of high craftsmanship. Fixed walls are super-insulated; moveable walls extend living space outdoors, with retractable insulation at openings to minimize heat loss at night. A

concrete thermal battery, heated by boiler and/or fireplace, moderates day-night temperature swings.

The core of the house is a full-height interior garden with retractable atrium roof; garden irrigation by collected rainwater. Kitchen, bathroom and stairway are modular components. Master bedroom includes rolling bed and outdoor shower, with potential for Home Health Module. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems/fixtures are efficient and upgradeable. Electrical generation is supplied

by a rooftop PV array, with the potential for separate tracking array. Comprehensive monitoring is provided to evaluate the performance of all building systems.

Renderings